March 22, 2014

Sometimes in the process of renovating or decorating, a change in direction occurs. Remember in my last studio post, I mentioned I would temporarily be moving to another room in the house while my current studio was being renovated? Well, we have decided to permanently move my studio to the room that was formerly the girls' study/craft room. As a result, we'll be selling all of the furniture from that room. For those of you new to my blog, here's a picture of the girls' study that we're currently renovating.

The furniture was purchased from IKEA and we'll be listing it soon on Craigslist for about 1/3 of the purchase price. It's all in like new condition, so if there are any local readers who are interested in purchasing it, please let me know. There are two desks, a large stacked cabinet with files drawers, two rolling carts with file drawers, two office chairs and the wall cabinets are included as well. We'd prefer to sell everything to one buyer.

Mr. E is currently refinishing the wood floors, doing some electrical work for new lighting and prepping the walls for their new paint color. After looking at lots of paint swatches, I chose a beautiful grey, Benjamin Moore's River Reflections. We also purchased high gloss white cabinets for the walls and ordered a new white office chair. Still deciding on a runner or small rug to protect the wood floors, perhaps grey striped. I'll move my current blonde colored office furniture into the new space which will compliment the white cabinets. The grey magnetic boards will be painted with a high gloss white paint. Now comes the hard part, waiting for the room to be finished so I can move in. As for my current studio space, it will become a sitting room with space for our books and family photographs. Stay tuned...

January 02, 2014

With the completion of our recent bathroom renovation, we are now ready to move on to my studio/office. I thought I'd share a few photos of how the studio looks now, before Mr. E begins transforming my space.

(You'll often find fresh flowers in the studio, as well as lots of sharpened pencils.)

With large double windows on both walls, I'm thankful to have a space which receives lots of morning and afternoon light. However, I often work in the evening as well so new lighting is the first item of importance on the renovation list.

(Couldn't do without my counter height work table, with cutting mat. An added plus is being able to access the table from all three sides.)

I'm still deciding on a paint color, but leaning towards something in the grey/slate spectrum. Crown molding will be installed, as well as wood floors. The furniture was purchased a few years ago from IKEA. It fits perfectly in the space and provides different areas for sewing, jewelry making, office work, packaging and cutting fabric.

I'm not a fan of clutter, so I prefer a pretty clean work space. These white wooden trays are perfect to hold the supplies I reach for quite often.

(My designated area for jewelry making.)

Large magnetic boards are useful for holding pending orders and supply purchases, as well as current inspirations or family photos. Love my Ott light and desk magnifier lamp - both must haves.

On the opposite side of the main wall are large storage cabinets. Behind these doors you'll find jewelry supplies, ribbons, tools, paper & countless other things. I'm pretty obsessed with organization (the Container Store loves me) so all supplies are stored neatly in plastic containers and labeled as well. File drawers hold both business and personal records making it super easy to keep track of everything.

(Love my Bernina sewing machine, a gift from Mr. E many years ago.)

This is the area where I sew. Through the window I have a view of our back yard & garden. It's also the area where I keep my Cameo Silhouette which I'm hoping to find more time to work with this year. My most recent purchase for the studio was a BOSE speaker system for the computer. My music never sounded so wonderful and I highly recommend them.

While I have ample shelving in the basement for shipping supplies, bolts of fabric, seasonal product and flat files for paper storage, I do need some additional storage & display space in the studio. This long wall is where I hope to accomplish this by installing some white storage cubbies, instead of closed cabinets. We'll be purchasing the IKEA Expedit units. Spot task lighting and indirect lights will be mounted on the Expedit units to avoid having to cut through the ceiling - a plus. Supplies will be stored in archival boxes, either in white or with a pop of color.

To the left is a large walk-in closet, desperately in need of a closet organization system which is on the to-do list. The downside of the renovation will be having to relocate everything to another room in the house while the work is completed. I'm a creature of habit so I'll miss my space in the interim, but returning to a new beautiful one will definitely be worth the wait.

February 10, 2012

I've just packaged up the last of my orders for the week. This set of six necklaces was one of my favorites. They were created for a bridal party who will be wearing beautiful blush chiffon dresses and silver Badgley Mischka pumps with a ruffle embellishment. I loved how the rhinestone piece and subtle grey ribbon complimented the silver findings and pearls so I decided to make one for myself as well.

Sweetpea is home from school this weekend on an unexpected visit and I'm so excited to spend the weekend with her. We miss doing so many things together while she is away, and plan on packing in as much as possible before she heads home on Sunday. Wishing you all a fun filled weekend!

August 08, 2010

I'm loving my new petite vintage style mannequin. An ideal piece for displaying necklaces and pins, or sometimes a note with an important reminder. It's covered with a hand-stitched antiqued cotton, and has a wood stained base with an adjustable pedestal. Perfectly charming all around.

May 19, 2010

Sometimes taking pictures of my jewelry and home accessories, is just as fun as creating it. Although I own photography lights and photo tents, I usually prefer shooting in natural daylight. First thing in the morning there is a wonderful soft light that streams through our front windows. Perfect for photo taking! In the late afternoon or early evening, I often take pictures outside on the front porch which by day's end is shaded and an ideal place to capture the perfect light.

I've always admired vintage manuscripts and architectural drawings and often use them as backgrounds in my pictures. I recently purchased a wonderful book, The French Archive of Design and Decoration, which has the most beautiful sketches, designs, patterns and samples of ceramics, wallpaper, textiles, furniture and tableware from the 18th to the early 20th centuries illustrating the evolution of French design. I just ordered the The English Archive of Design and Decoration as well and can't wait until it arrives. (I purchased both titles at Powell's and Amazon for under $20 each.)

I love studying the beautiful pages for inspiration, and you will often find many of them in the background of my pictures.

April 15, 2010

As a life-long admirer of John Singer Sargent's portraits, I was thrilled when a number of years ago, the National Gallery of Art in DC hosted a large scale exhibition with over 100 pieces of his work. Of course, we immediately arranged for tickets and took our girls out of school so they could join us. I could have remained there all day viewing the beautiful portraits. After a wonderful morning, we enjoyed lunch in the museum and stopped in the gift shop where we purchased two prints of our favorite paintings.

The first, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1885), features two girls in a garden at dusk, lighting paper lanterns which are hung among the flowers. Sargent captured the light in the painting so remarkably that the light actually appears to glow and reflect onto its surroundings. The print now sits atop one of the tall cabinets in my studio and provides me with lots of inspiration.

In front of it, sits a wire basket where I keep inspirational clippings, ideas, and patterns I have sketched for future projects. As you can see, it's almost overflowing with the many projects I hope to soon begin.

December 28, 2009

Before the New Year, I enjoy going through my supplies to see what I'm running low on and what I may no longer wish to keep. I like to keep my studio pretty neat and organized (at least when I'm not in the middle of a project). To accomplish this I have several tall and spacious cabinets with lots of lateral storage drawers and file cabinets. Each clear storage container gets its own special label.

I do own a P-touch label maker, but for my studio I wanted something a little more creative so I made these round labels. A favorite book, The French Inspired Home, by Kaari Meng, has a wonderful selection of vintage labels that you can scan and use for projects such as this. After scanning the image, I used my computer to select the color I wanted and inserted a text box to type the contents. After printing them off on card stock the next step was to run them through my Xyron 500 sticker machine. (I use my 40% off Michael's coupons whenever I need to purchase new cartridges.)

My storage cabinets are from IKEA and I just love them. The little plastic storage containers in the lateral drawers are from The Container Store (.99 each). Every item has its place and I never have to search for anything. Believe it or not, my husband is even more organized than me. I just try to keep up with him!

September 07, 2009

It has a big beautiful screen (I got the 24") and lots of new programs for me to explore. I love the idea of new technology, but hate taking the time to learn new systems. It's the little changes that are hardest to adjust to, such as - why doesn't the MAC have a backspace key? I seem to have used that key a lot on my PC. So, this is a HUGE step for me, but I'm looking forward to all the enhancements it will bring to my creative projects. Wish me luck on my new adventure! I welcome any tips, or words of advice, from anyone else who has said good-bye to their PC too.

June 29, 2009

I have been searching for a used flat file, for sometime now, to store my large sheets of handmade and decorative paper. New, these files sell for between $900 and $1300. On Craigslist, they typically sell for between $300 and $400. The problem was, they would sell the moment they were listed. Well, a few weeks ago I happened to be on-line when a listing came up for two flat files for only $100 each! I immediately sent an email saying I wanted to purchase both of them if they were still available. To my amazement, the seller called me back and said I could get them the next day. I was thrilled! My search was over, the price was a steal, and to top it off they were the larger sized files - each one measuring 54" wide, 43" deep and 17" high with five drawers each. Sweet husband drove out to DC the next day and brought them home. They barely fit in the back of our '69 Crew Cab. They were in need of a thorough cleaning, and were a bit scratched, but otherwise the drawers opened and closed perfectly and I was happy to use them the way they were. After all, they were only $100 and they were going to be stored in the basement with my shop inventory, not in my upstairs studio. However, sweet husband already had restoration plans in store. This is what the files looked liked before.

This is what they look like now!

Sweet husband sanded, cleaned and painted the cabinets, purchased new handles and label holders, stacked the two files, built a counter-top for the top and installed casters on the bottom so I can move the cabinet anywhere I like. It is just fabulous. Not only do I have lots of storage now, I also have a great counter-space to use when I'm down in the basement sorting inventory or shooting product with my table top photo equipment. I absolutely love it. I could hardly wait to place all of my paper in it. I wish I had a picture of how I used to store my paper - in one pile placed over a clothing rack with plastic sheeting on top. When I would try to take out one piece of paper the entire stack would fall to the floor. You can only imagine my reaction. Not a pretty picture. But now I have this wonderful new storage space. Can you tell I'm excited?!

I'm off to make labels now to categorize my paper drawers. Don't you just love organizing? I do! Looking at the paper all neatly organized suddenly puts me in the mood to create.